What to Know
- Six-time Emmy winner Dick Van Dyke recounted the harrowing moments a wind-driven wildfire neared his home above the Malibu coast.
- The screen and stage actor, who turns 99 Friday, says he tried to undo a snarled fire hose when he saw the Franklin Fire near his Serra Retreat neighborhood.
- Exhausted, he began crawling to safety on the ground before neighbors arrived to help, Van Dyke says.
- Thousands of residents were under evacuation orders due to the 4,000-acre Malibu fire that started Monday night and nearly doubled in size in less than 24 hours.
Neighbors helped 98-year-old Dick Van Dyke to safety following frightening moments when a swift-moving wildfire fanned by strong wind gusts closed in on his Malibu home, the legendary entertainer told NBC News.
The star of screen and stage, who turns 99 on Friday, told NBC News correspondent Dana Griffin that flames from the 4,000-acre Franklin Fire were in the backyard of his home when neighbors arrived to help.
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"I was trying to crawl to the car. I had exhausted myself. I couldn’t get up," Van Dyke told NBC News. "And three neighbors came and carried me out, and came back and put out a little fire in the guesthouse and saved me."
In a post Tuesday on the "Mary Poppins" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" star's Facebook page, Van Dyke said he was safely evacuated with wife Arlene from the Serra Retreat community overlooking the Los Angeles County coast, but the couple's cat Bobo had gone missing. An update in the comments thread included an encouraging update and photo.
"We found Bobo as soon as we arrived back home this morning," the post said. "There was so much interest in his disappearance that Animal Control was called in to assist. But, thankfully he was easy to find and not harmed."
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In a Thursday update on his Facebook page, the six-time Emmy winner-- who achieved stardom in the 1960 musical "Bye Bye Birdie," for which he won a Tony Award and the movie based on the stage production -- was pictured on a stationary bike with a caption indicating he and Arlene returned to their home Thursday morning.
I’m out there laying on the ground trying to undo this fire hose, and the fire’s coming over the hill. What I did was exhaust myself. I forgot how old I am, and I realized I was crawling to get out.
Dick Van Dyke
The Franklin Fire began Monday night and quickly expanded overnight from 2,200 acres to nearly 4,000. The Malibu area, including the rugged coastal mountains was under a red flag warning that expired Wednesday afternoon.
The fire destroyed and damaged about a dozen structures, including in the hard hit Serra Retreat area. Thousands of people were under evacuation orders as the fire nearly doubled in size in less that 24 hours.
“This time I messed up... I have a fire hose that hooks up to my pool, and shoots like a 70-foot stream of water," Van Dyke told NBC News. "Well, I wasn’t ready. I went out. It was snarled, and I’m out there laying on the ground trying to undo this fire hose, and the fire’s coming over the hill. What I did was exhaust myself. I forgot how old I am, and I realized I was crawling to get out.
“It was coming from over the hill, you could see it."
Security camera video showed neighbors helping Van Dyke out of the house and down stairs just as firefighters arrived.
Winds are expected to remain calm Thursday, offering improved weather conditions for firefighters who increased containment Wednesday to 7 percent.
“We saw the weather moderate, which allowed us to have a lot of success around the fire,” Dusty Martin from Cal Fire said during a news conference Wednesday evening. “For (Thursday,) we're looking at the wind change with the possible change in direction that the fire has been going.”
